Canyon-Slam was particularly aggressive in the Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition. Most promising was Soraya Paladin's breakaway on the Bemerlerberg with 9km to go, but the move may have only hampered a bold approach to the Cauberg by Katarzyna Nyewiadoma.

"With Soraya in front of me, I hesitated because I didn't want to attack on the last Cauberg and close the gap. Maybe I was a little too conservative in the race," Nienyadoma said after the race.

With 2000 meters to go on the climb, Nieuwadoma and Paladin were both in a group of seven, but Paladin was hanging on for dear life when the final winner, Demi Vollering (Team SD Walks), attacked and made contact.

Nieviadma did not react immediately to Vollering's move, and she and Liane Lippert (Team DSM) tried to chase, but the Dutchwoman disappeared. Paladin regained fifth place in the last kilometer, but Niewiadoma missed the podium in fourth place.

"I don't know if any other cyclist has had as many fourth, fifth, and sixth places as I have. My teammates put up a hard race and I was at the front for the entire race.

"It was great how she chose when to attack aggressively, like Soraya's attack at the end. I think she could have reached the point with 100 meters to go where the others would have hesitated and let her go," Nienyadoma said.

Paladin started Cauberg with a 10-second advantage, but was caught up about three-quarters of the way up the climb. Just a few hundred meters later, Vollering attacked and won, leaving the Canyon-Slam athletes to wonder what might have been.

"I don't know how to feel. I'm sad and happy at the same time," Paladin said. "The way the team ran, we deserved to be on the podium. I'm sad that I didn't make the podium, but I'm happy that I was able to contribute to the race."

Paladin's teammates were also very happy to see her finish on the podium.

She was part of an early breakaway that got away with 107 km to go and attacked several times in the final after a distance of about 30 km.

"I used a lot of energy getting into the breakaway, but I had fun and was happy to be active," Paladin said.

"On the last lap I saw a few sprinters left, so I told myself I had nothing to lose. It was a hard fight. All I could think about was going as deep as I could. It's frustrating not to be one step closer to the podium. It's one of my favorite races and it's my dream to celebrate with a beer on the podium."